Hidden Threat
by Lady Kalitana
Summary: *sigh* Another Alanna went to the convent story. But when the convent gets attacked one night, Alanna and her friend uncover a plot against the Royal Throne of Tortall. R/R plz
1. The Attack

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Disclaimer × Don't own any of the characters, places, etc… that you may recognise. But I do own some of the characters that you don't recognise. Uh, um.. yeah… other than that, they pretty much belong to Tamora Pierce. ^^ Don't sue!

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Summary × Yes, I know… _another _Alanna-goes-to-the-convent story… ×sigh× but I couldn't think of any other storyline… plz don't flame! Anyway, more on the summary… Alanna went to the convent, Thom went to the Palace. But when the convent that she's staying at goes under attack, Alanna and her best friend uncover a plot against the Royal Family in Tortall. Swearing revenge for their many friends who were hurt from the attack, they decide to try their luck and stop the scheme and whoever is behind it.

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Author's Note × It's my very first Tamora Pierce fanfic (my second fanfic over all…) so please be nice! Hehe. Oh, and a warning for any A/G fans… It's not that I don't like George, but he's not one of my favourite characters… so read my fan fic if you want, but plz don't expect the two of them to get together. But, who knows… anything could happen ;) Personally, I'm an A/J fan, but I don't know where the story is going to go yet. Lol.

Think I've blabbered on enough? I do. Let's get on with the story…

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HIDDEN THREAT

Chapter One ◊ The Attack

Alanna grimaced as her friend pulled out a rather low cut dress from her trunk. Flipping her long, dark red-brown hair over her shoulder, she shook her head and sat down on the end of her bed.

"Oh, why not?" Erin asked, laughing at the face Alanna had just pulled.

"You know perfectly well, why not!"

Erin ignored her, and turned back to look at the dark crimson dress with a fine black overlay. There were diamonds and amethysts studded around the waistline, and the sleeves were long and flowing. Holding it up, she looked at it, to Alanna, and back to the dress.

"It'll look perfect on you…" she sighed, "you may not be the prettiest girl in the convent, but you'll be fairly close to it with this on…"

Alanna scowled, "gee, thanks a lot?"

Erin grinned and lay the dress back down. "I would do anything to have your looks…"

__

She must be crazy… Alanna thought, staring at her friend. Erin was known for her wild schemes, daring personality and charisma, yet she seemed to care about her looks as much as she did adventure.

With her light brown hair, that was naturally streaked, sparkling hazel eyes and pert smile, she was the envy of just about every other girl in the convent. Alanna, also known for her adventurous nature, was usually shifted off to the side when meeting new men from nearby towns. But that's not to say that Alanna wasn't pretty.

With her lustrous reddish-brown hair falling halfway down her back, and mischeivous smile, she wasn't too bad looking herself. However, it was her bright amethyst coloured eyes that got people's attention.

"I can't believe we have to go to _another_ ball! We just went to one last month," Alanna complained, as she let Erin fiddle around with her hair, wondering what to do with it.

"I know you may not like it, but you're going to end up going whether you like it or not. You might as well look good at it…" Erin replied, brushing her hair from her eyes. Alanna groaned. Sometimes Erin's logic never seemed to make much sense to her.

◊×

Alanna stood to the side of the hall, fiddling with her long sleeve. She didn't know how she managed to do it, but Erin had eventually talked her into wearing the dark crimson dress. Alanna watched as Erin stood in the centre of a small group of young men, talking and flirting with them. Her laugh rang clear across the hall.

Even though most men were fascinated and drawn to Alanna's looks, she wasn't exactly very sociable, and they found that it was easier to start talking to one of the other girls instead. Alanna didn't know whether to be insulted or relieved that she was left alone for most of the night.

"I'm going outside for some fresh air…" she mumbled to Erin, as she walked past. Before her friend could answer, she was already pushing open the door and outside in the small courtyard. The moon and stars were covered by clouds, and there was a cool breeze in the air. She sighed, and leant back against a large tree.

There was a rustle in the bushes nearby, and Alanna straightened immediately. As far as she knew, most of the other guests were still inside. The rustling stopped, and she told herself that it was just the wind.

__

Maybe I should just go back to my room… Alanna thought wearily, as she smoothed out her dress and began making her way across the courtyard. She didn't care if she got in trouble later, it was better than standing around the hall watching all the eligible young men avoid her.

She had just reached the beginning of the corridor when she heard a loud crash and some screams coming from the Hall. Alanna froze. What was going on?

×◊

"Erin!" Alanna called, as she ran back into the hall. It was absolute chaos inside the hall. Girls and guys alike were running across the hall in all directions. It was hard at first to see why or what they were running from. Scanning the hall quickly, Alanna saw that the front main doors had been broken in to two.

"Erin! Where are you?" she called again, as she moved to the side of the hall, careful not to get trampled by those who were heading out. 

"Alanna?" she heard Erin call out. Looking in the direction of the voice, Alanna spotted Erin and another guy supporting a girl between them. Without a second thought, Alanna pushed her way through the crowd and made her way over to them.

"Wha- What is going on?!" Alanna asked, having to shout above the screams. As she got closer, she realised that the girl Erin was supporting had fainted.

"We need to get out of here…" Erin muttered, shifting her weight onto her other leg. One of the girl's arms was around her shoulder. Erin looked around, her eyes wild. Alanna grabbed her arm.

"Erin… what is going on…?" Alanna asked again, quieter this time. She didn't like running unless there was a good reason. The young man beside Erin answered Alanna's question.

"We don't know exactly what happened, but the doors just crashed open like they were struck by lightning, and then…" he hesistated, unsure of what to say next, "and then… I don't know. It was as if the hall had been plunged into a bucket of ice water. We all got this really bad feeling. Some people screamed, and others ran. Celeste fainted, and Erin managed to catch her before she hit the ground…"

"Please Alanna… we need to get out of here," Erin said again. Alanna nodded her agreement. Together, the four of them made their way towards the exit. Now that the guy had mentioned it, Alanna did feel a vaguely unsettling feeling. She couldn't wait to get out of the hall, and quickly.

Halfway across the hall, Erin stumbled and swore. "Can you take Celeste for a second, Ben?" she asked, as she began unstrapping her high-heeled shoes. Ben nodded, and lifted Celeste up in both hands. Just as Erin had taken off her second heel, she grabbed Alanna's arm suddenly.

"Erin, wha-?" Alanna began, before Erin had pushed her suddenly off to the side. Caught by surprise, Alanna hit the ground hard. A moment later, something bright hit the spot where she was standing a second ago. _It's some-one's Gift! _Alanna thought with a shiver, not wanting to think of what would've happened if it had hit her.

"Ben, take Celeste and go!" Erin shouted, already making her way over to help Alanna up. There was a force in her voice that made him obey, and he ran as quickly as he could, still carrying Celeste. By now the hall was just about empty, and the only source of light was coming through the doors outside.

"Come on, Alanna… we need to go!" Erin said, reaching Alanna. Throwing her long hair back over her shoulder, Alanna got up. She was still shaken by what happened. She had a million questions to ask, but she also knew that now was not exactly the best time.

Once they were both up and running after Ben towards the exit, they heard more screams coming from outside. Both Erin and Alanna swore this time, "oh, what _is _going on now?!"

Stopping just inside the doorway, Alanna looked outside quickly to see men on horses riding through the courtyard, scattering people everywhere. She turned back to Erin.

"Um, I don't think we really want to go out that way…" she whispered. Erin nodded, and for a while, they just waited in the dark and empty hall, hoping that the riders wouldn't decide to come any closer.

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AN × Okay, so it didn't exactly turn out like I wanted it to. I admit, it's not exactly that great either… but I promise it'll get better later on! Or, at least, I hope it will… Please R & R! I want to know whether or not I should bother continuing…

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× Lady Kalitana ◊


	2. The Plot

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Disclaimer × sigh.. do I really need to put a 'disclaimer' on every page? Oh well… nope, I don't own any of the characters that you may recognise. They belong to Tamora Pierce. However, Erin and some others… _do _belong to me. Hehe.

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Author's Note × Just thought I'd let everyone know, since it's not really clear in the first chapter… Alanna and Erin are around… um, maybe sixteen-years-old? Something around there…

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HIDDEN THREAT

Chapter Two ◊ The Plot

"I don't know what he's on about…" a gruff voice said, near the place where Alanna and Erin were hiding. The two girls looked at each other, too scared to move. Outside had grown quiet, though they still heard people riding past every now and then.

"No-one really knows what he's on about…" a new voice replied. 

"What exactly were we supposed to do tonight, anyway?" the other asked, [AN:let's just call him Gruff and the other one… uh… New…] There was a slight pause as Erin and Alanna waited for New's answer.

"Well…" he began, somewhat hesitantly, "no-one is supposed to know this, but we were supposed to look for some-one…"

"Oh?" Gruff asked, not quite sure what to make of this new information, "and who would this… _some-one_ be?"

"That's the thing. We weren't told"

Gruff gave a short, unfriendly laugh. "That's just great isn't it, we're told to go to the convent and find some-one that we don't know who it is… any idea's why?"

"Apparently this person that we're supposed to find, may put our… uh, 'aim'… in danger. And don't ask me how, either…" New replied, with a faint sigh. There was another uncomfortable silence, and Alanna wished that they would say more. She hated not knowing what was going on. And what was this 'aim' they were talking about? Looking over at Erin, she found that neither of them had any clue as to what they were talking about. Before long, Gruff began talking again.

"I thought the plan was supposed to fool proof…" he growled in a low voice, "if I had known that it could be pulled apart by this one person, than I wouldn't have agreed to it..."

"Shhh… you don't know who may be near and listening!" New cut in, looking around quickly. Erin and Alanna quickly pulled back into the shadows as he came nearer. They needn't have bothered, as he barely glanced in their direction.

"Why don't we just forget that this converation ever happened?" he suggested, apparently satisfied that he didn't find anyone lurking nearby. "the throne is as good as ours… you just wait…"

◊×

"Alanna! What are you doing?" Erin hissed, as she followed Alanna quickly and silently towards the stables.

"You heard what those two men said! There's something going on, and I think it's aimed at the Throne of Tortall…" she replied, without looking back. Erin sighed and grabbed Alanna's arm.

"Don't you think we should go tell some-one? You knnow me, I'm always up for adventure, but come on… this is serious!"

"And so am I! Who do you think we could tell, anyway? Those guys we just heard talking? We don't know who we can trust. Erin… I'm going, either way. My brother is training to become a knight at the Palace, he'll think of a way to help us stop whoever those people are," Alanna said, making her way over to where her silver-white mare, Solar, was resting.

Erin pouted, obviously not convinced, "do you always have to be so stubborn?"

Alanna had to smile. Erin was just as stubborn as Alanna, if not more so, and they both knew it. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Erin saddling her own chestnut mare, Blaze, which had a pure white star marking on her forehead. Once they were both mounted and set to go, Erin paused.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked quietly. The two of them had always talked about going on an adventure once they left the convent, but they didn't expect to get mixed up in a plot of high treason. Alanna took a deep breath, and adjusted her saddle bag. Inside it were a few gold coins and food rations that they had to keep with their horses for emergency. Erin had a similar bag.

"Yeah… let's go…"she nodded, steering Solar towards the road leading away from the dark convent. The attackers had long since left already, and it was unusually quiet. Without another word, she urged Solar to a fast canter with Erin and Blaze following close behind.

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AN × Short chapter… I know, but… please R/R! Thanks~ 

HuntressDiana- yay, my first and only review so far! Hehe. Thanks for taking the time to actually read and review. =) I see your point about how little paragraphs can get annoying. I've changed the window size of my computer, so it looks like the paragraphs are bigger than they actually are… hehe. But I'll try to work on that in my next chapter…

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× Lady Kalitana ◊


	3. Double Image

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Disclaimer × … I'm getting lazy… lol. Did I mention that I don't own any of these characters? (Apart from Erin and some others that you may not recognise… hehe) The rest belong to Tamora Pierce.

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Author' Note × I've read in some other reviews about how Thom wouldn't have the same friends that Alanna would've… I think it's a good point, so I'm going to make Thom have different friends. But don't worry, Alanna _will _meet the Prince, Gary, Raoul and the others… promise! I just need to, uh, figure out how… =)

Oh, one other quick note: I'm prob not going to make Alex evil… besides I think he's just a bit… uh, misunderstood? Lol. So just in case you're wondering whether or not he's bad or not. When Duke Roger was choosing his squire, instead of choosing Alex, he chose Ralon instead (I don't have my books with me… did I get the name right?? Hehe. If not, just mention it in a review, thnx). There, I think that's enough reason. I think… hope…

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HIDDEN THREAT

Chapter Three ◊ Double Image

Thom found himself lying on his back, in the middle of the practise courts. At his throat was a blunt tip of a practise sword. He pouted at his grinning friend standing over him. There was an expectant pause before thom let out a sigh.

"I yield…" he mumbled, and allowed himself to be helped up by Elton, his occasional practise partner. Thom wanted to wipe the smirk off his friend's face, but knew that he'd never be able to beat him at a fair swords fight. It wasn't that Elton was that good… it was just that he was better. 

"What's the matter, Thom? A little out of it, today?" Elton teased, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. Thom shrugged. In truth, he didn't really know what was going on. He was used to being beaten on the courts, but never so quickly. The two of them made their way off the courts. They only had half a day of training and lessons, as there was a Mid-Autumn Festival to be held in the courtyards that night. It's just like another ball, but held outside instead.

"Hey Thom, wait up!" a panting voice came from behind the two friends. Thom and Elton waited until a slightly out of breath boy ran their way. He had slightly wavy brown hair and dark brpwn eyes. He was also wearing a lopsided grin.

"Where have you been, Luke?" Thom asked his friend, once he got nearer, "I don't remember seeing you at all today…?"

Luke nodded, trying to catch his breath. "Yeah, duke Gareth gave me permission to go out into the market today," he grinned, "I told him that I didn't have anything to wear for tonight's festival"

Thom laughed, "you liar. What sort of nonsense did you tell his Grace this time?"

"Well, since the squires don't actually have to serve tonight, I told him that I wanted to get something special"

"And he believed it?" Elton asked, surprised. Luke shrugged.

"I guess so. But that's not all…" he said, glancing over at Thom, as the three of them continued to walk back to their rooms, "I saw some interesting people in the market…"

"Oh?"

"Yep. But let me change that to 'one' interesting person. There's this girl who looks a bit like you…" Luke said slowly, waiting to see if this had any effect on Thom. It did. The red-haired squire stopped walking and waited for Luke to continue. He did.

"Yeah, she looked around our age. Her hair was longer than yours, obviously, but it was also slightly darker. A more reddish brown. I didn't really think much of it at first, she was pretty. But her friend…" Luke let out a low whistle, before relising that he was getting off topic, "anyway. I didn't think much of it at first, until I accidentally bumped into her. And _yes_, it was by accident. She looked up at me, and… Mithros… she had violet eyes!"

Thom let out a choked noise. _Could it be Alanna? _He thought, as the three of them started walking again. Luke was looking closely, trying to figure out what he was thinking. Thom didn't really pay any attention to his two friends. He was too busy going over his thoughts in his head.

__

What would Alanna be doing here_? She should be in the convent, still training with the Daughters! I guess it is possible, that she was sent here early with a friend to come to the Palace, but… _Thom shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. It didn't help much, _the Daughters at the convent may have had her darken her hair with dye, as red hair stands out a bit. Her hair would've grown longer, yes… and how do I explain the violet eyes? It _must_ be Alanna!_

As they rounded the final corner before their rooms, Thom stopped again. He turned back to face Luke and Elton "Uh, would you two excuse me, please? I just remembered something that I need to attend to…" he said, and without waiting for a reply, he ran off down the corridor. Luke and Elton stared after him, before looking at each other and shrugging.

×◊

Erin sighed, and brushed back her hair with her hand. "What exactly are we doing, Alanna?" she asked, in a weary voice. The two of them had arrived two day before, and had done nothing but wander around the market place. Alanna frowned and ignored her friend. She didn't actually know what they were going to do, but she didn't want to tell Erin that. She'd never hear the end of it, otherwise. The ride from the convent to the Palace had been uneventful, and Alanna didn't really have anything planned further than that. She was about to suggest going back to the inn, when she spotted a familiar face in the crowd. She froze.

"Thom?" she whispered under her breath, before her violet eyes widened, "Thom! It is you!" she gave a short laugh and ran to meet her twin brother. Erin stood behind her, confused. After giving her speechless twin a quick hug, Alanna turned back to Erin and explained.

"Erin, I'd like you to meet my twin brother, Thom. The one that I told you about, before. Thom, meet Erin, a friend of mine from the convent…"

After the greetings were done and out of the way, both Alanna and Thom went straight to the point. They moved to the side of the street where they wouldn't attract as much attention. There was a brief pause before Thom began.

"Okay, I guess the main question is: Why are you _here_ and not at the convent?" Thom asked, glancing around the marketplace quickly. He wasn't supposed to leave the Palace, and if he was found, he would be in a lot of trouble. Alanna and Erin quickly filled him in at what happened at the convent. Thom's eyes widened.

"You were actually dancing?!" he exclaimed, before looking down breifly at their now ruined, but still beautiful dresses, "I was wondering why you were dressed up for once…"

Alanna pouted, and slapped him lightly on the arm. "Be nice," she said tartly, before frowning, "and you're missing the point! The point is-"

Thom began laughing. "Oh, I did _not_ miss the point. Honestly, Alanna, I'm not that slow…" he trailed off, wondering what the best course of action would be, "well, the chances are that their Majesties probably won't belive you with so little evidence. You know the King, he loves his title as the Peace Keeper, and won't want to take any action if he doesn't see it necessary. Come to the Mid-Autumn Festival tonight. We can see if we can work it out then…"

"The Mid-Autumn Festival at the Palace?" Erin asked, frowning, "I don't exactly see how…"

"Leave that up to me. Several noblewomen and ladies are coming to the Palace tonight for the festival. You two could easily pass. I'll write up some fake invitations, give them to you before the festival, and then we'll try to work something out. Okay?" Thom said, thinking it over quickly in his head. Alanna looked convinced, but Erin shook her head slightly. Alanna looked at her friend's troubled expression.

"Erin? What's wrong?"

"Nothing much. But… what do we wear?"

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AN × Okay… leaving it there for now. Lol. The next chapter would probably be the Mid-Autumn Festival at the Palace, so keep checking back! Thank you so much to all the reviewers so far. ;)

Reaya - I just wanted to say that I LOVE all of your stories…! Keep going, and thanks for the review!

Charmed luver22 - I haven't had a chance to read your story yet, but I'll try to soon. Lol. I love Charmed, it used to be my favourite show when Prue was still there. I'm glad you like the story so far.

Regan - Hehe, I had no idea what to call the guys so 'Gruff and New' seemed to do just fine. ;) I kinda forgot about the fact that they'd be ruining their gowns… damn. But they'll get new ones… actually, if you didn't mention it, I probably would've forgotten all about them! So, I decided to include the fact that they were a bit ruined at the end of this chapter. =)

Keep the reviews coming, and I'll hopefully update soon!

---× **Lady Kalitana **×---


	4. MidAutumn Festival I

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Disclaimer × as much as I'd want to… I don't own any of the characters that you recognise. Damn. Hehe. Just so you know. ;) However, I do own Luke, Erin, Elton, the storyline and anything else that you may not recognise. =)

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Author's Note × aw… I'm glad that lots of people are liking my story so far… hehe. Oh, and I admit.. I wasn't exactly very clear when I was talking about Alanna's hair colour. (thanks Mist Tiger for bringing that up!) Um, I'll put that at the bottom, with the 'Thanks'…

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HIDDEN THREAT

Chapter Four ◊ Mid-Autumn Festival I

Alanna began having second thoughts as they reached the Palace gates. Erin had to quickly grab her arm before she ran away. Though she wanted to get back at those who destroyed the convent, and prevent anything happening against the Royal Family, she still hated going to dances and balls. Even if it was held outside instead of in a Great Hall. She sulked slightly as Erin flashed the forged invitations at the guard on duty.

"Behave yourself…" Erin warned her, before grinning, "you really hate dances, don't you?"

Alanna nodded sullenly, smoothing out her dress unconsciously as they entered a small courtyard that led to a larger one. After meeting Thom, Erin and Alanna had immediately gone back to the inn where they were staying. While Alanna had a shower and collected the invitations from Thom, Erin had gone to work on trying to fixing Alanna's dress. As the sleeves on the dress had been ruined during the ride, Erin had ripped them off and fixed up the stitching. There were some stains on the dress, so she had purchased some cheap, but smooth black material and placed it over the top as another overlay. Instead of a crimson dress that shimmered black every now and then, with long flowing sleeves, Alanna wore a strapless (and still low cut) dark dress, that shimmered crimson in the light. As half of the diamonds and amethysts had fallen off from around the waist, Erin had taken them off and made a simple necklace that matched the dress and Alanna's eyes. When Alanna had come back into the room and seen the dress, she was speechless. Though the neckline was lower than she'd have liked it, she thought it was better than the old dress.

While Erin had her shower and was getting ready, Alanna went to work of her friend's dress. She wasn't as skilled at it, as Erin was, but she tried her best. Erin's dress was originally a rich, cream colour with several glittering and fine layers, and silver-gold threads, and fine imprints. Like Alanna's, it also had long flowing sleeves and a low neckline. The bottom hem of the fine glittering layer had been frayed and ruined, so Alanna went about fixing that, as well as the sleeves. Byt the time she was finished, Erin's dress was off the shoulder and one-sleeved, with a somewhat uneven, but flowing glittering overlay falling down smoothly. Alanna had also managed to wash most of the stains out. Though it wasn't the best dress, and the one-sleeve was uncommon, when Erin put it on, it looked almost perfect on her.

After they had gotten their dresses done and out of the way, Erin went to fix Alanna's long hair. With some left over amethysts and diamonds, she carefully threaded them into her hair. It was half up and half down, with the top half twisted and twirled loosely. At the front, Alanna had some loose, soft hair framing her face. Erin didn't quite trust Alanna to do her hair, and without thinking, tied it up into a messy, though elegant upsweep with loose hair hanging out everywhere.

As she looked over at her friend, Alanna apraised her work on Erin's dress. The waist line fit the body comfortably, and whenever Erin turned or moved, the fine silver caught the light and cast an almost shimmering glow. Shaking her head, Alanna thought about how the daughters back at the convent would think, if they knew she and Erin were about to join a festival at the Palace. They'd be pleased, expecially as Erin and Alanna actually looked more than decent for such an occasion, but they'd also be disappointed that they hadn't found any dashing young knights to go with.

(Sorry if I kinda went on a bit, about their dresses and looks… lol. I have this habit of having to describe nearly everything! (on girls anyway… I can't seem to describe guys as well. Not enough words, excpet for handsome, good-looking or cute… ;))

"Where did Thom say he'll meet us?" Erin asked, suddenly breaking into Alanna's thoughts. Alanna straightened, remembering why they were there in the first place. They had to find Thom, and figure out a way to expose the schemers behind the plot, so that they could present it to their Majesties. She scanned the scanned the crowded courtyard quickly. It was a large courtyard, nearly as big as the Great Hall where balls were usually held. Rows of tables filled with delicious food, drinks and punch lines the sides. All around, surrounding the courtyard, were large white-rose bushes and trees, whose leaves had begun to turn a golden orange-red colour. Over head, silk white ribbons stretched across from trees to trees. She couldn't tell where the lights came from, but all around were soft glows of light, that reflected off the ladies dreses, causing the courtyard to glitter and cast faint shadows. It was far more spectacular then any of the balls the convent held. Erin seemed to be thinking the same thing.

◊×

"Who are you looking for?" Luke asked, for the third time, as he cuaght Thom looking across the courtyard for something or someone. He swapped a glance with Elton. Neither of them knew what was up with their friend. Since he had disappeared after practice that afternoon, Thom had been acting a little on edge. Luke rolled his eyes and was about to say something else, when he spotted two girls walk into the courtyard. He stared, surprised.

It was the two girl he saw in the marketplace, earlier that day! He stared at the girl who had reminded him of Thom. Now that she was dressed up, she was actually fairly attractive. Not the best, he admitted, but there was sort of quality about her, from the way she walked and held herself, that let others know that she was in charge and took didn't nonsense from anybody. His eyes drifted over to her extremely pretty friend. She wore a unusual, but beautiful that suited her well. He tapped Thom on the shoulder.

"Hey, Thom… there's the girl I was talking about before. The one with the violet eyes!" he whispered, before realising that there wa no way the two girls would be able to hear him over the music played by a experienced quartet at the side of the courtyard. Thom stared at him for a moment, before looking over to where he was pointing. He mouthed smething under his breath.

"Uh… I'll be right back!" Thom said, before quickly pushing his way through the crowd. At first he hadn't recognised Alanna. He was still used to seeing her back home in breeches and other clothing, refusing to wear anything too girly unless she had to. Yet, here she was. He shook his head, what was going on? Alanna spotted Thom just before he reached her.

"There you are, Thom!" she said, dragging him by his arm over to the side of the courtyard. She brushed her hair from her eyes, absently. Thom grinned.

"Mithros, Alanna… I wouldn't have been surprised if you had lost your nerve and decided to skip the festival!" he said, with an almost mocking tone. Alanna rolled her eyes. She was about to remind him that she never backed away form anything, before remembering that Erin had stopped her at the last minute. Instead, she bit back her remark. Thom hadn't finished teasing her yet.

"You're actually wearing a dress too… a very nice one, at that. Where'd you get the money and time to get a new one fitted?" he asked, glancing down at her shimmering dark dress. Alanna raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"Are you really that blind, brother dear?" she asked.

Thom looked again, closer this time. "It's the same dress!" he exclaimed, "let me guess? Erin fixed it up for you?" When Alanna nodded, her grinned. He knew the set look on Alanna's face. She was getting impatient. "Okay, just one more thing… you're actually wearing make-up?"

Alanna groaned. Didn't her brother know when to stop? But it was true, she didn't like wearing make up that often, but had allowed Erin to brush some light foundation and darken her lips to match the dress. Though she had disagreed at first, she had to admit… Erin had done a good job. She shifted slightly.

"Are you done yet?" she snapped at Thom, arms still crossed. He nodded and grinned again.

"Oh, I guess so," he said, before taking a deep breath, "well, we already discussed that their Majesties wouldn't do anything if you told them now. Or it would do, is expose the fact that you know about their plot, putting you and Erin in a lot of danger. So that's out of the question until we find out something more. Any ideas on who could be behind all of this?"

Alanna shook her head, "none. All I do know is, is that someone at the convent could help prevent their plan from working. But I don't know how exactly, or who he is!"

Thom looked around quickly, "keep your voice down… Well, keep that in mind anyway, we may have to find out who this person is if we want to stop the plan from working. I'll keep a look for anyone suspicous as well as other information around the Palace. You and Erin can-"

Alanna gave her brother a strange look when he suddenly stopped, "Thom?" 

"Um, Alanna… where _is _Erin?"

Alanna was shocked at this. She had automatically assumed that Erin had been standing beside her the whole time. Shaking her head, she covered a smile. She had thought it had been a little too quiet. Looking around the courtyard, she spotted Erin and rolled her eyes. She was standing in the middle of a small group of young knights and squires. She cocked her head in her direction.

Thom laughed when he saw her and some of the knights flirting, "I must say, Erin does have good taste"

"Oh?"

"She's standing in the middle of some of the best young knights Tortall has"

Alanna sighed, "that doesn't exactly explain a lot, you know Thom"

"Okay, let me put it this way. She's talking, no… make that _flirting_ with the crown Prince, his two best friends, their squires and the best fencer we have"

◊×◊×◊

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AN × Oops… didn't quite go the way I wanted to, but oh well. I can't really be bothered to retype the whole thing. Hehe. Don't worry, that's not the end of the festival… I'm just going to break it up into parts over different chapters. Please R/R!

Reaya - For some reason I always end up spelling practice… 'practise'… don't ask me why. I usually rely on spellcheck to automatically fix it up! =) but I've turned spellcheck off while I'm typing the chapters, cause I was sick of it always underlining the names it doesn't recognise. Hehe. But thanks for pointing that out to me! ~ She'll meet Jon and the others in the next chapter ;)

Kaelin - Thanks for the review. I was trying to think of an original storyline that hadn't been used before, but I couldn't come up with anything! So, I thought I might as well go with an alanna-goes-to-the-convent story. Lol

Rinamin - yay, I'm glad you like Erin. Hehe. I want to set her and another character from the story up, but I haven't quite decided who yet, though I have a few ideas. Feel free to post/review any suggestions if you want.

Mist Tiger - Oops… I wasn't too clear in my last chapter about Alanna's hair colour. Lol. I just wanted Alanna's hair to be slightly different than how it would be in the books. So, my excuse is… is that at the convent, the First Daughter, etc… were convinced that having fire red hair would make her stand out too much, and that most men wouldn't want a wife with such bright hair. It was also coming into fashion, to have rich, dark hair, so they (and some other girls at the convent) helped to dye her hair a more reddish-brown. Okay, so my logic doesn't exactly work out… but… hehe. Use your imagination and invent your own reason if you want! =) And the balls at the convent thing… well, I guess they'd have small balls or dances to practice and get them ready for when they leave. Or that's just how it is in my own little world ;) It wouldn't be anything big or serious though.

Thanks for all the reviews!! I'll try to update again soon…

---× **Lady Kalitana **×---


	5. MidAutumn Festival II

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Disclaimer × Okay, most of this belongs to Tamora Pierce, 'cept for the story line, Erin, Elton, Luke and other characters that you may not recognise. Hehe.

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Author's Note × After re-reading my last chapter… I realised how many spelling and grammar mistakes I had! Oops… kinda didn't notice them before I posted it up. So, I'm gonna use spell check for this chapter. Don't know if it's going to have much of a difference, but… on with the story. I'm having a writer's block at the moment (already!)

Oh, and it's also been about a year since I read SOTL, so sorry if I make some mistakes or miss out on anything! Lol. But I have read 'In the hand of the Goddess' and 'Alanna: The first adventure' about two weeks ago? ;) I like those two books the most.

◊×◊×◊

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HIDDEN THREAT

Chapter Five ◊ Mid-Autumn Festival II

Alanna sighed and shook her head. She knew Erin wouldn't last very long without meeting some of the young knights at the Palace. If she didn't know any better, she would've said that Erin was another one of those air-headed ladies of the court. However, she did know Erin well enough to know that her friend was actually a lot smarter than she let on. Alanna grabbed her brother's arm.

"Come on…" she mumbled, making her way over to where Erin and around six others were standing near the doorway between the courtyard and hall. Thom just grinned and followed her. Slowing down once she was closer, Alanna could hear part of the conversation. To her surprise, Erin wasn't actually flirting like she usually did. Instead, she seemed to be arguing something with a lithe, good-looking young knight.

"Think about it, Alex… I love balls and dressing up as much as the next girl, but honestly... Just how many dances do they really need at a convent?" Erin asked, taking a sip of a drink she was holding her hands. Alex's eyes sparkled.

"Well, you can't be expected to go to a ball and know what to do straight away. What about practice?" he asked, before adding, "it can't be _that_ bad. Can it?"

Erin laughed, "you have no idea. Some of the classes are fun and interesting, but most are somewhat boring. I swear, their Majesties just want to punish all the young girls or something…"

Alex cocked an eyebrow at an extremely cute young man standing opposite him, "is that true, Jon?"

Jonathan rolled his eyes and grinned. Before he could reply, Erin spotted Alanna and Thom coming towards them. She put her glass down on the table and grabbed Alanna's arm, dragging her into the circle. Thom followed behind them.

"This is Alanna, she's one of my best friends…" Erin said, introducing Alanna to the others. Alanna blushed as they all stared at her, eyes widening as they saw the similarities between her and Thom. The knight beside Jon tilted his head on the side, as though thinking something over in his head.

"Is it me, or does Lady Alanna look remarkably like Squire Thom?" he asked. Thom stood by Alanna's side and gave a short laugh.

"Alanna is my twin sister, Sir Gareth," Thom replied, obviously not used to being in the other knights presence for too long. The knight looked between the two of them, a good natured smile on his face.

"Call me Gary. I'm pleased to meet you, Lady Alanna… let us just hope that you are nothing like Lady Erin here. She has a rather sharp wit that can stir a lot of trouble here at the Palace…" he said politely to Alanna, before glancing across to Erin with a slight smirk on his face. Erin hit his arm playfully.

"Ooh… I'll get you for that Gary!" she said, hazel eyes twinkling, "and if you thought _I_ was being pert, just wait until you get to know Alanna better!"

Alanna turned to glare at her friend. That wasn't exactly the kind of first impression she wanted to make. Erin smiled began introducing the knights and squires one by one.

"That big knight with the chestnut hair, is Sir Gareth of Naxon… beside him, is the even bigger knight, Sir Raoul of Goldenlake… their two squires… [AN: um, uh… forgot their names! Geoffrey and Sacherell? Douglass?]… then the dark, quiet one is Sir Alexander of Tirragen… and the young man with the deep sapphire eyes and dark hair, is Sir Jonathan…"

Thom looked across the group as Erin was introducing Alanna to everyone, wondering why she hadn't mentioned the fact that Jonathan was also the Prince. Catching his eye, Prince Jonathan grinned slightly at Thom, and he realised that Erin had no idea that he was the Prince! Looking back over at Alanna, he realised that she seemed to have forgotten the fact that he had mentioned Erin had been talking to the Prince before. Thom shrugged, there was no reason why Alanna and Erin needed to know that fact if Jonathan didn't feel like telling them. He saw Alanna tug on Erin's arm.

"Uh, Erin… remember the reason why we came here? Yeah, well… do you think we may be able to discuss it now?" Alanna asked, hinting at the fact that they still needed to figure out what to do. Erin caught on almost immediately, though she didn't look too happy. The other knights looked slightly confused.

"Oh, I guess so…" Erin sighed, excusing herself and walking with Alanna further away from the group. Once they were out of earshot, Alanna stopped and turned to face Erin.

"Mithros, Erin! How did you manage to meet all those knights already? I knew most guys love you, but…!" Alanna exclaimed, surprised that Erin seemed to be fitting in so well. Erin rolled her eyes.

"Be reasonable, Alanna. I love flirting, but I'm not _that_ good! Gary's squire was a family friend of mine, and he introduced me to his Knight Master and eventually I was introduced to his friends. Now, I thought you wanted to talk about why we were here?"

Alanna nodded and was about to say something when there was a startled shout from somewhere in the courtyard. The sweet, flowing music hesitated a bit before stopping. Everyone looked around uncertain, and there seemed to be some sort of commotion somewhere near the other end. Erin and Alanna quickly exchanged glances before making their way through the crowd to see what was going on. After all, they were there to observe anything strange or out of place. A slight murmur was running through the crowds now.

"Can't we enjoy a dance _without_ being interrupted for once?" Erin muttered under her breath, as the two of them found themselves standing not far away from where the King and Queen sat. Close by to the tables, was a small break in the crowd. Lying in the middle, was an ashen faced page supported by a large knight. Beside him was a spilt glass of wine.

◊×◊×◊

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AN × Sorry, not my best chapter. Not concentrating at the moment… I might change it later if I come up with something better, but I doubt it. Lol. R/R!

Reaya - If I know what I want to type, it doesn't usually take me that long to update. Hehe. I'm probably not going to update _everyday_, it just depends on how many reviews I've got. =) I'm probably going to update again when I have around 20 reviews or so? Make sure you update your stories soon! ;)

Lady Cyrhia - Hey, glad you like my story so far. Um… haven't decided yet who Alanna is going to end up with. I'm not really a huge fan of George, I'm actually an AJ fan, but who knows? Lol. If I had to choose now, it'll probably Jon? =) (I also like Alex, hehe ;))

HuntressDiana - I decided to use spell check for this chapter, 'cause after re-reading my last chapter, I realised how many mistakes I made! Hehe. I can't be bothered fixing up those ones, but hopefully the spelling in my next chapters will be better. Lol. Thanks for the reviews!

Charmed luver22 - Thanks for reviewing my chapters, glad you like them so far. ;) I've read the first chapter of _Cousins and Demons_, I'll review your story there. K? lol.

---× **Lady Kalitana **×---


	6. Poison and Stealing

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Disclaimer × Don't own any of these characters, unfortunately… oh wait. I take that back. I _do _own Erin, Elton, Luke, Josh, Tem, Zak, the story line and any other characters or places that you don't recognise. You know the drill… ;) Or you _should_ anyway!

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Author's Note × Um, I don't think I really have an author's note. It's just out of habit to type this up here. Hehe. Thanks for all the reviews! I have exams starting at the end of next week, so I don't know how often I'll update then… but it should be okay for now. =)

One more thing, I haven't mentioned this before, but just like Alanna is _Lady Alanna of Trebond_, Erin is _Lady Erin of Serenité_. Can't be bothered putting back in the earlier chapters, so I'll just put it here instead.

~-» × «-~ × ~-» × «-~

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HIDDEN THREAT

Chapter Six ◊ POISON AND STEALING

Alanna awoke late the next morning. The sky outside was a darkened colour, though the sun was up. Yawning, she sat up in her bed to see some-one sitting in the corner of the room. Starting, Alanna gave a small yelp before recognising the familiar violet eyes.

"What are you doing here, Thom?" she asked, sulking a bit after being caught surprised. She must've been more tired than she thought, normally no-one could've sneaked into her room with out her knowing it. Thom gave a small laugh, before glancing around quickly. They were in Alanna's small, though cosy, room at the inn. Near to where Thom was sitting, was an adjoining door that separated her room from Erin's. After satisfied that there was no one else in the room, Thom began weaving some simple designs with his fingers in the air, before letting it go slowly.

"So mote it be…" he whispered quietly, and for a brief second, a faint violet mist lit up the room before disappearing. Though she had seen Thom use his Gift when he was younger, she hadn't expected him to be so advanced, especially as she knew little of her own Gift. In truth, she was afraid of what she did not know.

"What in Mithros' name, did you do?" she demanded, trying to let Thom see how shaken she was. 

"My, my… aren't we in a bad mood this morning, sis?" Thom teased, coming over to sit at the end of her bed. Alanna shuffled into a more comfortable position and waited for Thom to answer her question. He did, "I just wanted to talk to you about last night… I simply used my Gift to ensure that we are not overheard"

"Erin would never eavesdrop!" Alanna protested.

"I wasn't talking about Erin, though she probably would if she weren't too busy talking to the cute innkeeper's son. I was talking about other people. We can never be too safe, you know"

"Whatever," Alanna mumbled. Now that she was awake, she was suddenly hungry. The last night's events were a bit blurred together. She hadn't had _that_ much to drink. Had she?

"I was talking to the other knights and squires at the time… what exactly happened last night?" Thom inquired, though it was obvious that he knew a lot more than Alanna did. She sighed. Why did her brother always beat around the bush? Why not just come right out and say whatever he came there to say? Deciding that she might as well try to clear her head about what happened, she briefly told Thom.

"Erin and I heard a faint scream or something coming from across the courtyard and went to investigate. Um, there was a page… I think, judging by what he was wearing and his age… anyway, it looked like he had fainted or something, right beside where their Majesties were sitting. I think he was serving some drinks, because there was a spilt wine glass next to him. Erin and I were kind of shooed away then, and I missed out on half of what was going on. There wasn't much else to do, so Erin and I made our way back to the other side of the courtyard. Is anything else you wanted to know?"

"No, not really. But I thought that you might be interested to know that I helped to clean up the mess made…"

"Oh, how nice of you," Alanna said dryly, stifling a yawn, "did you want to get to the point?"

"Erin was right. You _are _impatient. Aren't you?" Thom asked, "the point is that I managed to grab the wine glass the page was carrying"

"That's the point?"

"I'm getting there! Once back in my room, I tried some tests out with my Gift," he continued, ignoring Alanna's shudder, "and I found out that the contents of the wine had been tampered with"

That got Alanna's attention almost immediately. She sat up straight, "tampered with? How?"

Grinning, Thom knew that Alanna would want to know about that. But as he remembered what he had found, he suddenly turned serious, "the wine contained a mild poison… not enough to kill a person, but enough to make them sick. Very sick, depending on how much is drunk".

"But who would want to poison a page?"

"You're not thinking, are you, Alanna? You said yourself that the page was probably _serving_ the drinks, and that he was found near their Majesties…" Thom trailed off as Alanna put two and two together. Her mouth dropped open.

"Are you saying that he was serving their Majesties, took a sip of their wine and fainted?" she demanded, eyes alight.

"Or, in other words, some-one tried to poison either the King or Queen"

~-» × «-~

Erin wandered through the market place alone. She had woken up early that morning and checked in on Alanna who was still sleeping. Deciding not to wake her up, she had gone to the downstairs of the inn and talked to Josh, the inn-keeper's teenage son. She had had a quick breakfast before deciding to take a walk. She didn't like sitting around and doing nothing.

"Can I help you, miss?"

Erin turned to face a smiling young woman standing behind a store of jewelry and fine clothes. Looking wistfully at the expensive items, Erin sighed. "No thank you, I'm just looking…" she replied, walking away to the next store before she was too tempted to buy something. She didn't know for how much longer she and Alanna could stay at the inn for. Though not even Alanna knew it, Erin had taken to being friends with a thief before being sent to the convent. She wasn't the most skilled at stealing and she didn't do it very often but, sooner or later, she and Alanna were going to run out of coins. Spotting a rather fat, greasy haired man with too many rings on his fingers, Erin stopped. She frowned as he shoved a little girl out of his way, laughed and continued walking.

Looking around quickly, Erin slipped her thin, though strong, silver dagger from a hiding place under dress. She had always kept it for security and personal reasons. She subtlety followed the man like a second shadow, and grew to dislike him even more as he continued to make lewd comments at others. He stopped in front of an old tavern to talk to another man for a second and, as it was fairly busy, Erin saw this as the perfect chance to get some more coins. She casually made her way over to stand beside him, and positioned the dagger just right. But before she could slice the bottom of his thick purse, she heard him talking in a rather nasty tone of voice.

"I don't care what _he_ says! I want my money, Tem!" he snarled at his companion. There was thick silence.

"You and I both know that we had an agreement, Zak…" came the reply in a rich, warning tone of voice.

"Yes, and that agreement was that I supply the poison, and you supply the coins! I've kept up my part of the bargain, where's yours?!"

Tem laughed softly, and Erin shivered. It was a cold and cruel laugh, "oh, is that what you thought the agreement was? I'm afraid that's where you're wrong, my friend. You don't get your coins until we get the… uh, 'desired effect' we want from the poison. Get it?"

Zak sniffed loudly and indignantly, "I don't give a damn about your 'desired effect', I supplied the poison, so you must supply the money!"

Shaking her head slowly, Erin felt as though she was getting a headache. What was going on? Feeling as though she had already stayed there too long, she deftly cut through the stitching holding together to bottom of the purse, and caught several golden coins in her hand.

__

Perfect, she thought, glancing over to make sure that Zak didn't notice anything. Satisfied that he was too busy arguing with Tem, Erin made her way slowly back into the crowd, slipping both the coins and dagger out of sight. She had enough to last her and Alanna for a another couple of nights. She was nearly to the end of the street, when someone grabbed her arm.

~-» × «-~ × ~-» × «-~

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AN × Hehe, sorry to leave it there! But I need to save some things for the next chapter! =) Please R/R!

Reaya - LOL. Didn't quite expect 20 reviews on the night after I posted it… but I did update! Hehe. The last two chapters were on the festival… wasn't quite what I wanted, but there will be more balls and festivals later on.

PoleKat - Don't worry, I'm planning to update sometime in the next few days or so! Hehe. It's not too bad of a cliffhanger, is it?? =)

HuntressDiana - Alanna and Jon should get talking soon… I kinda rushed the last two chapters a bit… oops.

Mist Tiger, Charmed luver22 and ndblue123 - hehe, thanks for the review!

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---× Lady Kalitana ×---


	7. New Friends

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Disclaimer × Mm… I don't own any of the characters that you recognise. But I do own those that you don't recognise… hehe. 

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Author's Note × Sorry for the small wait… I have so much h/w and projects… it's not fair! Lol. Exams are being held at this week and the next, so I won't be able to update then. Sorry (again)! I'll try, but no promises. =)

~-» × «-~ × ~-» × «-~

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HIDDEN THREAT

Chapter Seven ◊ New Friends

Erin froze when she felt someone grab her arm. Her first thought was that Zak had realised his money was missing and had come after her. But instead, she turned around to face a young man with bright hazel eyes not unlike her own. He was looking at her with an amused grin.

"What do you want?" Erin asked coolly, pulling her arm from his grip. The stranger mentioned to her and moved over to the side of the street where they wouldn't attract as much attention. Without really thinking, Erin followed him.

"The name's George. George Cooper" the young man answered, with a lazy smile. Erin stared at him.

"That doesn't exactly help"

"It wasn't supposed to"

There was a brief silence, before Erin had a sudden thought. Her eyes narrowed as she remembered the slight headache she had felt before, "you have the Gift don't you?"

George looked surprised, before his smile widened. "Yer an observant lass, aren't ye?"

Erin pouted, "do you ever answer a question with a straight answer?"

"Maybe I'm just a crooked person"

"What do you want?" Erin asked again, tired of playing games. Alanna was probably beginning to wonder what happened to her. If this George wanted the money she just stole, then he should say so and let her on her way.

"Well, yer right. I do have the Gift, and it told me somethin' very interesting…" George said, as they began walking slowly down the street again.

"Oh?"

"And when it tells me somethin', I never ignore it"

"And what did it tell you?" Erin asked in a slightly sarcastic tone of voice.

"I don't know" George admitted, smiling when he noticed a flicker or irritation cross Erin's pretty face. She spun around to face him.

"Then what-"

"All I know is that I'm supposed to help someone you know in some way…" George interrupted.

~-» × «-~

Alanna was standing by the window thinking, when the door to the room opened. She didn't need to look up to know that it was Erin.

"Where have you been?" Alanna asked, covering a yawn. After her visit from Thom, she was fully awake with all sorts of thoughts running through her head. The thought of how strong Thom's Gift was also scared her a bit. Erin sat down on Alanna's bed.

"I found some money we can use to pay for a few more nights at the inn," she said, opening her purse and counting the gold coins. Alanna looked at her friend in surprise.

"How'd you manage to do that?" Alanna asked, brushing a lock of auburn hair out of her eyes. Erin shrugged. She decided not to mention the stealing or George. Though he seemed sure, Erin tried to convince him that he must have mistaken her for someone else. When Alanna realised that she wasn't about to say how she got the money, she continued and told Erin what Thom had told her that morning. At the mention of poison, Erin sat upright.

"Poison? Are you sure?" she asked, frowning. Alanna nodded.

"Thom seemed pretty sure, anyway. He also said that he can organize a couple of rooms for us to stay at the Palace," Alanna said, suddenly remembering what else her twin brother had said. After vaguely complaining about getting no where, Thom had suggested that she and Erin stay at the Palace so that they can keep an eye on things while Thom was training to become a knight. It seemed like a pretty good idea to Alanna.

Erin grinned at Alanna, eyes twinkling. Alanna didn't think she liked that look very much, "what?"

"Oh nothing. But think about all the balls we're going to have to attend," she said casually, with a slight smirk.

Alanna groaned. She had forgotten about the balls at the Palace.

~-» × «-~

Alanna looked around her room in the Palace. It wasn't one of the best and small, but it was beautiful none the less. There was a small fireplace opposite a comfortable double bed draped with fine and warm cloths. The cool floor was covered with a thick, deeply coloured rug and mysterious paintings decorated the walls. It was better than her room at the inn and she was staying there for free. Though she didn't know how, Thom had made some arrangements and managed to get her and Erin a room each. The only problem was that their rooms weren't together.

After unpacking what little things she had with her, Alanna decided to take a little walk around the Palace. It was a cool, light day and she still had an hour before dinnertime. Walking out of her room, Alanna nearly collided with a young man she had seen at the Mid-Autumn Festival. She watched in amusement as the young man tried to remember where he had seen her before, his face brightened when he suddenly remembered.

"Lady Alanna, what are you doing here?" he asked, giving a polite bow. Alanna responded with an equally polite curtsy.

"Sir Gary," she said, with a small smile. While she was vaguely happy the see a familiar face, all she wanted to do was explore on her own for a while. "My brother Squire Thom, invited me to stay at the Palace for a while".

"With your friend, Lady Erin?" he asked casually. Alanna nearly rolled her eyes, before stopping herself in time. The Daughters at the convents were always telling her how unladylike it was. Not that she really cared. Yet, whenever Erin rolled her eyes or cursed, they never said a word against her! Life was unfair sometimes.

"Yes, Lady Erin is staying here also, though her room is not near mine"

Gary nodded, "and where are you off to now?"

"I thought I'd just… um, look around. I don't really know my way around yet"

Gary grinned, "would you like a guide? I don't really have anything to do at the moment, so why don't I show you around?"

Alanna thought about it briefly for a bit, before deciding to accept. She had plenty of time to explore on her own later on. She smiled sincerely, "I would love that"

~-» × «-~ × ~-» × «-~

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AN × Okay… um, not much happened. Sorry about that! Hehe. R/R plz!

Cassa-Andra - Oops… wasn't meaning to give Erin a bigger role… don't worry, it'll change soon. =) Alanna will be doing a lot more later on. Lol. 

Reaya - Lol. I'm not planning to leave too many cliffhangers… or not intentionally anyway… either way I'll try! 

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---× Lady Kalitana ×---


	8. Around the Palace

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Disclaimer × Refer to the last chapter… and the one before that… and the one before that… you get the idea. ;)

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Author's Note × Exams are over!! Finally! Hehe. I don't think I failed any, so that's good. Or at least I _hope_ I didn't fail any… o.0 So, anyway, back to the story.

~-» × «-~ × ~-» × «-~

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HIDDEN THREAT

Chapter Eight ◊ Around the Palace

Alanna could only stare at everything as Gary showed her around the Palace. It was far bigger than she had thought possible, and they hadn't even covered half the of the grounds yet! How she and Erin were going find whoever they were looking for, was beyond her.

"Where are we going now?" Alanna asked, as Gary led her through yet another long corridor that looked identical to the one she had walked through not a moment ago. Gary turned around her flashed her a grin.

"We still have a couple of hours before the sun sets, how about a ride across the grounds. If we're lucky we can catch the sun setting… Mithros, that's a sight you do not want to miss…!"

Alanna smiled back at Gary. She wasn't one to trust people easily, yet she found herself liking the big, friendly knight. Plus she hadn't really given Solar any real exercise. Her mare would love the chance to have a bit of freedom, instead of being cooped up in the stables. A few minutes later, Gary and Alanna walked out through one of the doors and into the afternoon sun. Shielding her eyes briefly, Alanna noticed that they had reached the practice yards where several pages, squires and knights were busy training. Gary began walking away, before realising that Alanna wasn't following him. He turned back concerned.

"Alanna? Are you coming?"

As if breaking out of a daydream, Alanna blinked a couple of times and hurried over to where Gary was waiting. While they continued to make their way to the stables, Alanna couldn't help glancing around, slightly envious. It was unfair that males were allowed to fight and handle swords, while females were expected to become proper ladies and do nothing of the sort. Pouting slightly, she followed Gary wordlessly and nearly ran into him when he stopped suddenly.

Wondering why he stopped, Alanna glanced over to where he was looking and spotted some of the knights she had seen from the festival.

"Jon is fencing with Alex? This should be interesting…" Gary seemed to say to no one in particular, as he covered a smile. He turned back to face Alanna, "you don't mind if we stop and watch this for a second, do you?"

Alanna, who was eager to watch the knights practice more, shook her head, "no, go ahead"

Together, Gary and Alanna walked over to the practice court at the very end. There was already a small crowd gathered around the outside of the courts, but the moved out of the way for the big knight and his friend. Before long, they found themselves at the front of the crowd. Recognising the two young knights in front of her, Alanna soon became captured by the strong and smooth movements of the sword. She found that her breath caught each time the swords hit one another and echoed with a loud crash. 

While she was at the convent, Alanna had dressed up as a boy and bought an old sword from the market place. She had then hidden it away in her room and practiced in private, teaching herself by watching various tournaments and other people around the market practice and draw swords. Though she could probably beat some of the less experienced squires, Alanna knew that she could never hope to beat a full grown knight. At least not without some practice. At this thought, she pouted. Her battered old sword was back at the convent.

Hearing a surprised yell, Alanna looked back up in time to see Alex knock Jonathan's sword out of his hand. Beside her, Gary was shaking his head, "I don't know what Jon was thinking… he's good, but Alex is better…"

As the crowd began to break up, Gary went over to talk to Alex and Jon. Alanna was about to follow him, when she spotted Erin standing across the other side of the court, an amused look on her face. She quickly made her way to her friend.

"What are you up to, Erin?" Alanna asked, suddenly beside her. Startled, Erin turned around and relaxed when she realised that it was only Alanna.

"I was on my way to see you, when I bumped into Alex. He was on his way to practice and I joined him… how about you? Come down to sweet talk one of the knights into teaching you how to fight?" she teased, laughing when Alanna gave her a light shove.

"No, Gary was showing me around the Palace and we were on our way to the stables when he wanted to stop and watch Alex and Jonathan practice"

"The stables? Where are you going?"

"I'm not sure, but Solar's been a bit restless lately… it'll be good for her to get out…" Alanna replied, absently fiddling with her long hair. Erin nodded in agreement as Gary, Jon and Alex joined them.

"Lady Alanna, Erin… you two had to come down on the day when I get beaten by Alex, don't you?" Jonathan said with a good-natured smile as he greeted them. Alex smirked.

"Face it Jon, you're good… but I'm better" he said, in a mocking tone of voice.

Jonathan scowled, "you've been spending too much time with Gary, haven't you?"

Alex and Gary didn't say anything, but just grinned at each other. Jonathan rolled his eyes and turned back to Erin and Alanna, "since my so-called 'friends' are acting really immature right now, I think I'll stick to talking with you two… what are you doing here anyway?"

"Gary was showing me around the Palace, when we passed you and Alex. He thought it'd be interesting to watch," Alanna said, with an innocent smile as the Prince turned to glare at his cousin.

"I bet he would…" he muttered. Gary laughed.

"Oh, cheer up Jon. Why don't we all just go for a ride… I promised Lady Alanna that the view at sunset is fantastic" he said, as they began walking back in the direction of the stables. Jonathan sighed and gave a small smile. 

"Whatever you say, Gary," he said.

"I wish I could join you, but I promised your dad that I'd help him train some of the squires," Alex said, looking over at Gary. With a wave, he was running off in the other direction.

~-» × «-~ × ~-» × «-~

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AN × Mm… not much to say. Sorry if it's short. Please tell me which you'd prefer:

Updated more often, but with shorter chapters… or

Long chapters, but having to wait longer between each chapter.

Thanks!


	9. Unanswered Questions

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Disclaimer × um… the usual. ;) if you don't know what the usual is… just check one of my other chapters. Lol.

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Author's Note × I'm going to try and update around once a week… might update more, or less… hehe. But that should be around the average, anyway. And the chapter lengths will vary… at the moment they're kind short, but I'll try to type longer ones.

~-» × «-~ × ~-» × «-~

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HIDDEN THREAT

Chapter Nine ◊ Unanswered questions

Alanna smiled as she sat atop Solar. For the first time in a while, she felt relaxed. Gary hadn't lied either, when he was talking about how beautiful the sunset was. The four of them had ridden to the top of a small peak behind the Palace grounds that overlooked the city.

"It's beautiful…" Erin breathed, sitting on Blaze. Gary and Jonathan seemed pretty pleased that the two girls seemed to enjoy the view.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Gary grinned and led his horse, Frost, further up the hill. However, before they got much further, something told Alanna to look up suddenly. Seeing the confused look on Alanna's face, Erin drew Blaze up alongside her.

"Alanna? Are you ok-" she began, before Alanna urged Solar forward and pushed the Prince down. Surprised, Jonathan lost his grip on the reins and fell from the saddle. Before he could ask what that was all about, a slim arrow flew past and narrowly missed his shoulder. It embedded itself firmly in the ground. There was a stunned silence before everyone got their wits back. 

Gary quickly rushed to his cousin's side, "Jon… are you alright?"

After getting over the initial shock, Jonathan was already alert and looking around. Alanna and Erin were looking around too, but none of them could find any signs of the attacker. They were also out in the open in a meadow surrounded by trees. Without wasting anymore time, Jonathan quickly mounted his horse, Dusk.

"Alanna? Erin? Maybe the two of you should go back to the Palace…" he suggested quietly. Alanna wasn't too happy at this.

"I just saved your life, and you want me to go back to the Palace?" she demanded, pulling the reins tight on Solar to stop her mare fidgeting.

"It's the safest-"

"No, I don't want to hear it. I may be female, but I can fight as well as any squire, and Erin can shoot further than any knight!" Alanna said, hating the fact that men assumed ladies would be useless in a fight. It wasn't the first time she had had this thought.

"Alanna…" Erin warned in a quiet voice. Jonathan and Gary looked shocked at her little outburst, but decided that it was not the time for arguments. The sun had nearly set and it was getting darker as well as cooler. Another arrow shot past, narrowly missing Gary this time. To Alanna, it seemed to be a warning shot, reminding them that they had other issues to attend to.

"Lady Alanna, Lady Erin… _please_ will you just go back to the Palace? Find Alex and Duke Gareth and let them know what's going on!" Jonathan said, his patience wearing thin. Alanna looked like she was about to argue some more, but Erin gave her a look that said _not now_. Without another word, Alanna frowned and urged Solar into a gallop back towards the Palace. She hated being told what to do, almost as much as she hated not being allowed to fight. Erin followed close behind her.

Once they reached the Palace, Alanna and Erin found Thom practicing with the other squires. They wasted no time telling them what was going on, and Thom promised to find Duke Gareth, Alex and Raoul. 

~-» × «-~

Once Alanna and Erin had ridden out of view, several more arrows began falling at Jonathan and Gary. If they weren't too busy defending themselves, they would've realised that whoever had been attacking, had been waiting for the ladies to be out of harms way first. Gary and Jonathan didn't waste any time drawing their swords, though their shields were back at the Palace. A few seconds later, other riders began riding out towards them. Almost at once, they could tell that they were knights from the Palace.

"Gary, behind you!" Jonathan called, as he deftly blocked another blow. He glanced at his cousin, in time to see Gary turn around and counter an the attack behind him. Gary and Jonathan were good knights, two of the best… but against a group of eight other fully trained knights, they knew they were outnumbered. Between them, they managed to take down four knights and the rest fled after spotting Duke Gareth and the other knights riding from the Palace.

However, Jonathan put out his sword to the neck of a knight that he had unhorsed, before he could get away. They glared at each other, while Gary went out to meet his father.

"It looks like we missed out on all the fun…" Alex commented dryly as he looked around. Gary frowned.

"If you want to call it 'fun'"

"What happened?" Raoul asked, urging his horse closer to where Jonathan and Gary stood. Duke Gareth came up behind them all.

"I think maybe we should ask our _friend_ here the same question…" Jonathan said, calmly. The knight on the ground didn't say anything but continued to glare up at the Prince.

"Why don't we all head back to the Palace, and we can question our 'friend' up there?" Duke Gareth suggested, surveying the wounded men around him. Jonathan nodded and knowing that the other knight wouldn't get very far, he sheathed his sword again.

"Get the wounded up to the Palace to see Duke Baird," he said quietly. Raoul and another knight nodded, and dismounted their horses. There were a lot of unanswered questions running through all of their heads.

~-» × «-~

"Will you stop pacing, Alanna? You're making me dizzy…" Erin complained, sitting back on Alanna's bed. Alanna ignored her friend, and couldn't help wondering what happened after they had left Jonathan and Gary. She was still angry at Jonathan for ordering her around like that, but she still didn't want them killed or hurt.

"I bet even if we were pages, we would've been allowed to stay and help," Alanna said bitterly, twisting her long hair in between her fingers. Erin pouted. This wasn't the first time she had heard Alanna complain like this.

"Look, Alanna… we both know that we may be able to take care of ourselves, but all they had was your word and no other way of knowing whether you're actually as good as you say you are," Erin said, leaning forward. If she wanted to, Alanna could brood and sulk for days. Not wanting that to happen this time, Erin was trying her best to calm her down, though she was also a little put out that they were expected to just sit out of every fight.

"We've fought plenty of bandits before, back at the convent… why should it be any different here?" Alanna asked, still not convinced. But she finally stopped pacing and sat down at the end of the bed.

"Yes, but they weren't fully trained knights. Bandits, we can handle… knights, well…" Erin shrugged. There was a small silence.

"I wonder if they're okay…" Alanna mused quietly.

Erin glanced outside at the darkening sky, "I'd say it's nearly time for the evening meal. Why don't we go find Thom or someone to see if we can find out any information? We still have a little time to take a look around"

Alanna nodded, "let's go"

Erin hopped off the bed and started towards the door with Alanna close behind her, "I need to get something from my room first, I'll meet you back here, okay?"

Alanna nodded again and watched her friend leave the room. Sighing, she closed the door after her. Not two seconds after it was closed, did it open again. Assuming Erin had just forgotten something, she was surprised when an unknown young man dressed in a heavy cloak walked into the room and quickly closed it silently behind him.

"Who are you? And what do you want?" Alanna demanded, eyes narrowed. Once again she wished that she hadn't left her sword back at the convent. 

"Easy, lass… I'm not going to hurt you," an amused voice said, pushing back the hood.

"Could've fooled me," Alanna scoffed, "what, with barging into my room unexpected and then locking it"

"Pert little one, aren't ye?" he grinned, hazel eyes flashing.

Alanna sighed, not really afraid any more than plain annoyed. "Now is not really the best time, you know… so I'm going to ask you again, what are you doing here?"

"I've some information that ye mine find interesting," he said, walking over and leaning against a pole of the four poster bed, "oh, and I'm George"

From the way he said it, Alanna suspected that he expected her to recognise that name, "sorry, but I don't know any George's. You must have the wrong person, now bye-bye"

George chuckled, not at all surprised, "should've known Lady Erin wouldn't bother tellin' ye"

Alanna froze at the mention of Erin's name, "wait. You know Erin?"

"I though that mine get ye interest. We met yesterday in the marketplace… now, about this information…"

"If you met Erin, why are you talking to me?"

George sighed, "ye love makin' things harder, don't ye? I want to give _ye_ this information, okay?"

When he was met with no excuses, George took this as a good sign and continued, "now I suppose you know about the page fallin' sick an' all at the festival, am I right?"

Alanna nodded, wondering where this was leading and what sort of information he had to tell her. George kept going when he saw her nod, "well, what not many people dun know, is that the wine he was carryin' contained poison"

He paused, obviously waiting for some sort of reaction out of Alanna. She nearly laughed when she saw the puzzled look that crossed his face, and she said calmly, "and?"

"Well now… ye obviously know a lot more than I give ye credit for. Okay, how about this… I know some information about the attack today," he said, obviously a little put out and wanting some sort of response. Alanna, who was sitting on the bed, sat up straight immediately.

"But it just happened, what do you know about it?" she asked, as George flashed her his famous grin. She then frowned, "hang on. You still haven't told me how you got here and who you are…"

"I already told ye who I am"

"Okay, then tell me what you do"

"If ye must know… I'm what ye'd call, the 'king of thieves'. And I've got several contacts here in the Palace… are ye done wit' all the questions?" he asked, crossing his arms with a smile. Not really sure what else to say, Alanna nodded silently and waited for him to go on.

"Good, 'cause I'm not too sure how long I can stay here without bein' found. Now about the attack today… I suppose ye may 'ave already guessed that the attack was aimed at the Prince-"

"The Prince? What are you on about, George?" Alanna laughed, "I have a feeling you're _contacts_ may be feeding you the wrong information"

"What? They wouldn't do that… didn't you ride with the Prince today?" George asked, obviously confused.

Alanna shook her head, "no, it was just me, Erin, Gary and Jonathan"

Now it was George's turn to laugh. Not one to like being laughed at, Alanna frowned. "Stop laughing…" she said, losing her patience. As an after thought, she added, "what _are_ you laughing about anyway?"

George finally stopped laughing, though he was wearing a large grin on his face, "oh, I get it now"

"Get what?"

"He didn't tell you he was the Prince 'cause he didn't want you and Erin to act any different around him"

This was news to Alanna, "wait. Are you saying that Gary is the Prince?"

George looked at her surprised. "How far out was your convent, exactly?" he asked, curiously. Alanna didn't even bother to ask how he knew that she had been to a convent. Seeing that he wasn't going to get an answer, he straightened up.

"Just to let you know… Gary isn't the Prince. Gary is Duke Gareth's son and Jonathan's cousin…"

Alanna swallowed hard, "you mean that Jonathan is-?"

"The Prince," George finished, satisfied at expression on Alanna's face. "Now about what I was going to tell you about the attack…"

George didn't get very far when Alanna heard a bell ringing to signal the evening meal. George cursed, "I don't have the time to tell you now… but whenever you can, come down to the Dancing Dove and ask for me. I'll tell you what I know"

"How do I know if I can trust you?" Alanna asked, suspicious again.

George grinned, "do you have a choice?"

~-» × «-~ × ~-» × «-~

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AN × Ooh… finally got this chapter up. Lol. I tried to make it longer than my last chapter. Hope you liked it! I had it all planned out in my head, but then it all got kind of muddled when I started typing. Some parts went better than I thought, and others didn't go quite as well. Hehe. PLEASE read and review!

Oh and a quick good luck to Cassa-Andra on your exams! Mine are worth one third of our semester report. So far so good though! ^^ Thanks to everyone else who have reviewed too!


	10. Sorry

Okay... um… I just wanted to say that I'm going to take a short break from continuing this fan fic and another one that I have. It's for personal reasons and also because I'm really busy at the moment. I hope you understand though. I might continue it later on though… I just wanted to let you know, just in case you're wondering why I'm not continuing. Thanks for everyone who has read my fics!


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